As we have often said at Transcend Admissions Consultants, education is an investment in your future, and can lead to amazing personal and professional growth opportunities. But with the sometimes staggering cost of tuition for undergraduate and graduate programs, how can you determine whether the Return of Investment (ROI) on your education will be worth it?
Recent studies have shed some light on this issue and released statistics on potential earnings for those with various levels of education. A recent report by the Pew Research Center tells us that college graduates will earn about $650,000 more than high school graduates over a 40-year career; and that workers with Master’s degrees will earn about $1.6 million over their work life compared to $1.4 million for those with a Bachelor’s degree only. This study goes on to show that workers with Master’s or Doctoral degrees can expect mean earnings of $100,000 – $120,000 by the time they reach 45 years of age, compared to $40,000 for those with only a high school education.
The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce has also visited this issue in 2011, and enthusiastically concludes that higher education is a sound investment that will net graduates 84% more earnings over a lifetime than those without higher education. This report states that the most popular course of study is business, accounting for 25% of all students, and that median earnings of those with graduate degrees in business are $80,000. People holding graduate degrees in engineering fields command the highest median annual income, at $99,000.
In the end, pursing higher education is a very personal decision and many factors must be taken into consideration. But while tuition can be very expensive ($100,000+ for top MBA programs), these studies seem to indicate that investing in education at all levels will lead to a solid ROI over the course of a career.